CU-Boulder loses 16 trees to ash borers

The University of Colorado has cut down 16 ash trees on its east campus in Boulder after confirming that the trees were infested with emerald ash borers, officials say.

The trees have been taken to the city forestry yards, where officials on Thursday will be inspecting branches from ash trees across the city to look for telltale signs of the destructive insects.

Untreated ash trees and their parts in Boulder County have been under quarantine since Nov. 12, when the Colorado Department of Agriculture confirmed that an ash tree inspected by city of Boulder forester Kathleen Alexander on Sept. 23 was host to the bugs.

The city has cut down six trees because of ash borers -- which officials say have killed more than 50 million ash trees in 21 U.S. states since 2002 -- and CU officials last month found 21 trees on campus that showed symptoms of infestation, according to university spokesman Mark Miller.

Of those, all but one were found on the east campus. Sixteen trees near the space sciences building were confirmed to be infested and were removed Nov. 25 and 26, Miller said.

"They have been taken to the city quarantine lot where they are being used to help other arborists in identifying ash borer-infested trees," Miller said.

Estimates are that 750 ash trees live in the cultivated areas owned by CU-Boulder, Miller said, with many more possibly living in uncultivated areas along Boulder Creek and elsewhere.

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"CU-Boulder is going to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the city of Boulder to establish a management strategy that follows best practices," Miller said of the potentially costly impact of the bugs.

Area arborists and foresters, including Boulder's Alexander, gathered in Denver on Tuesday for an emerald ash borer workshop. The workshop brought in people from across the country.

On Thursday, officials said, local crews will gather at the city's forestry lots, 5200 E. Pearl St., where they will manually peel back bark on green branches taken from ash trees in 39 designated sections of Boulder, with the goal of searching for emerald ash borer larvae.

Joanne Littlefield, liaison for the state's emerald ash borer task force, said just because it has been colder lately doesn't mean people should let their guard down when it comes to the spread of the insects.

"The freeze is not going to kill them because the insects have already burrowed down," she said, stressing that people should keep ash trees and materials -- even firewood -- within the quarantine zone.

Exceptions to the quarantine include seeds, leaves, kiln-dried, processed firewood, and finished wood products without bark, according to the state's order.

The quarantine covers all of Boulder County and the town of Erie. It extends eastward, covering an area bordered on the south by Colo. 7, on the north by Colo. 52 and on the east by Weld County Road 7.

A mile-wide corridor of Colo. 93 south of Boulder is also quarantined, as is the Republic Landfill property and the Singing Saw Woodworks property at 11218 Colo. 93. The 15-acre Community Sort Yard at 8200 Colo. 7 in Allenspark is also under quarantine, according to the state.

Ash tree materials within the quarantine zone should be taken to the Denver Regional Landfill, 1441 Weld County Road 6, or Front Range Landfill, 1830 Weld County Road 5, in Erie, or the Republic Landfill, at 8900 Colo. 93, in Golden.

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